Mine-car cager



I. A. NOLAN.

MINE CAR CGER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 1, 1920.

J. A. NOLAN.

MINE CAR'CAGER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I. 1920.

Patented Dec. 21,1920.

3 SHEETS-SHE 2.

J. A. NOLAN.

MINE CAR CAGEH APrLcATloN FILED SEPT. 1* i920.

1,362,958. I Patented De@E 2L 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES* JAMES A. NOLAN, 0F BWERSTON, OHIO,

MINE-cnn GAGER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

Application filed September 1, 1920. Serial No. 407,459.

To all yw )tom t may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES A( NOLAN, a citizen of the `United States, residing at Bcwerston, in the county of Harrison and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mine-Gar Cagers, of which the following is a specification.

rihis invention relates to means designed more particularly to automatically feed mine cars on elevator platforms or cages and to dumps as used in mines or any place for handling coal or other minerals.

The main object of this invention is to provide any desired amount of cushioning for the stops7 so that cars' may be fed to the cage or dump with great rapidity, without damage or severe shocks toy the cars. This l desire to accomplish by means of a cross head or base plate, on which the car stops are permanently located in such a manner as to keep them adjacent to the rails and in a position to hold the trip of cars. finy style of ci'osshead may be used which travels parallel to the rails and may be cushioned by means of springs, weights, compressed air or liquids, or by any other method known to the art. Another object is to provide means for automatically feed- .ing cars to a cage or dump in which means the operation 'of the cage and the motion of the cars are used to operate the device.

In the drawings:

.Figure 1 is a plan View of my preferred construction showing the entire mechanism as used in connection with an elevator cage.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end View of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the elevator cage.

Fig. Ll .is an enlarged view in cross section, showing the preferred construction of the bumper springs.

Fig. 5 is a side view corresponding to Fig. L1. v

Fig. 6 is an enlarged side elevationl showing the preferred method of mounting the car-stops.

Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6 showing the car-stops in their closed and open position.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the method of holding the car-stops operating means in either the open or closed position.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of a modified construction of the bumper spring.

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a diagrammatic representation of the car-stops operating means showing the .car-stops in their closed position.

` ig, 12 is another diagrammatic representation of the car-stops operating means showing' the car-stops in their open position.

Fig. 1 3 is a front elevation of the socalled tripping member secured to the elevator. platform. n This invention is especially intended as an improvementon my prior constructions as disclosedr in my United States Patents 1,337.94 and 1,337,915, both issued on April 2Q, 19240, and may be used either with or without the square operating shaft as shown iu these patents.

Referring more in detail to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the mechanism consists of a plate 1 slidably mounted under rails a between the rail flanges and the guide bars 2 suitably7 spaced by blocks 3 and 4. A shaft 5. celitrally mounted below plate 1 and parallel to the track, is supported by bearings 6 and 7. intermediate these bearings the shaft carries an equalizer lever 3 secured thereon and connected to the arms 9 of the stops l() by the bent connecting bars 11. Adjacent lever 8 is securely mounted another lever 12 connected by chain 13 to the 'arm 14 of the bellcranl:-leveil 15 supported by the stand 16 in the bottom of the trench 17. At the rear end of the shaft 5 and outwardly of bearings 7 is securely mounted lever 18 acted upon by tension springs 19 the other end of which is adjustably connected to a bracket 20. On the opposite end of the shaft 5 is secured the lever 21 which is connected t0 the tripping device 22 by means of a cable or chain 23 guided by pulley 211 mounted on support 25 secured to tie 26.

The shocks produced by the cars striking against the car stops ,10 are absorbed by the bumper springs 27 mounted between supports 23 secured oiithe base 1 and the stationary supports 29 secured on tie 30. Each spring is provided with a guide rod 3l secured in supports 23 and slidably mounted in supports 29. rEhe opening of the car stops is operated by the downward motion of the elevator cage. As will be seen in the diagrams 11 and 12 the bent end 32a of tripping member 32 will strike the nearly horizonta arm 33 of the bell-crank lever 341 rockably mounted in support 35 and cause a clockwise rotation of said bell-crank. This motion will be transmitted to `the bell-crank lever 15 by the rod 37 connecting the arm 36 of the rocking lever 34 to the lower arm 38 of bell-crank lever 15 thus causing the levers to take the position shown in Fig. 12. As will be seen in this figure the levers 8 and 12 secured on rocking shaft 5 will be brought by a clock-wise rotation into a substantially vertical position with the result that the car stops will be opened a sufficient amount to clear the passage for the car wheels, thus enabling the car to run down the suitably inclined track a, and land on the elevator cage, where it will be v retained by a special automatic stopping device which has formed the subject of a former patent of mine, and therefore need not be explicitly dealt with in this application.

lt will be seen from Fig. 12 that after the `end 32a of tripping member 32 has passed beyond the arm 33 of bell-crank 34 the elevator cage will be permitted to travel downwardly a considerable amount without interfering with said arm. rhe bell-cranklever 84 will be brought back into its normal position shown in Fig. 11 by the trigger-lever, every time it is struck by a car.

It will also be noted that on the return, or

upward motion, oit the elevator, the end 32a will take along the bell-crank-lever 34 until the latter has described a sufficient counter clock-wise movement to clear the end 32a, as indicated by the dot and dash lines. This reversed motion will not aiiect the position of the car-stops; its only eiiect will be that of raising the arm 14 of the bell-cranklever 15 and causing the connecting chain 13 to fold itself, as can be seen by the iew dotted links shown in Fig. 1 2. The bellcrank lever 34 will be brought back in its.

normal position shown in 11 by the pressure of a suitable spring, such as indicated by 45.

After the hind wheels of the iirst released car have passed the car-stops 10, the right hand forward wheel of the second car will strike the trigger-lever 39 of the tripping device 22 and cause the lower lever 40, secured on the vertical shaft 41, rockably mounted in bearings 42 and 43 positioned on tie 44, to turn counter clock-wise. similar counter clock-wise motion will be imparted to lever 21 by the cable or chain 23 running over the guide pulley24; thus bringing the equalizer-lever 8 back into its horizontal position, which corresponds to the closed position of the car-stops, thereby arresting the motion of the second car until the tripping member 32 on the elevator cage has again acted on bell-crank 34 and correlated mechanism. The two extreme positions of lever 21 are shown by c and d, Fig. 3, in which c corresponds to the open position of the car-stops and d to the closed position.

The lever 18, mounted on the forward `end of the' rocking-shaft 5 is so connected with spring 19 that the latter will assist the operation of the car-stops in either the closed or open position as soon as the longitudinal axis of the spring has passed beyond the center of the rocking shaft 5. When the lever 18 has reached either one of its extreme positions as shown in Fig. 8, the tension in the spring will be suiiicient to hold the car-stops in their positions, thus avoiding the possibility of accidental motions which might occur if such means were not provided.

The counter clock-wise motion of the equalizer-lever 8 is limited by a stop 46 in order to prevent the spring 19 from pulling the rocker-shaft 5 beyond the horizontal position of the lever 8, thereby impossibilitating the reopening of the car-stops after the latter have been closed by the action of the trigger-lever 39.

In the Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, l have shown the bumpers made of two springs each, the inner one coming into action only after the base plate 1, with the car-stops, have traveled a suitable distance. This construction is preferable to the single spring bumper in cases where the car-stops have to resist the impact of a great number of loaded cars in motion. rlhese figures also show the bumper springs installed inside the car tracks. ln Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown a modification in which the bumpers are mounted outside of the car tracks and in which the guiding rods 47 form the eXtension of the shaft for the rockably mounted car-stops. 'This construction may be required in cases where the gage of the car tracks is not suliicient to permit the location o'l' the bumpers on the inside, which is the method l prefer to use. Although have only shown spring bumpers in my drawings, l wish also to include in this application the use of any other means olf absorbing shocks known to the art, but more especially the type of bumpers operating with compressed air or liquids. A s will be understood, the trench 17 and the bumper springs will be suitably covered to prevent accidents or exposure to the elements.

It is also understood that the bumpers could be so arranged as to be located in front of the base plate and car-stops instead as shown on the drawings. The position of the tripping device 22 in relation to the car stops will be determined by the size and number of mine cars which are to be automatically fed to the elevator cage; the principle being that it must come into action only after the last hind wheels of the group of cars fed at one time to the cage have passed the car stops.

Whenever it is desired to use the ear tracks without the automatic stopping device, itis only necessary to place the car stops in their open position and to disconnect the. cable 23 from lever 40 by removing pin 410, which will allow the turning of 'the trioger 39 backward and away from the rai. The tension in spring 19 Will then hold the car stops permanently in their open position.

Vhile I have illustrated and described the use of the device in connection with the approach to a mine elevator cage it is evident that this device could be used in any other installation where it is desired to supply automatically one or more cars at a time, such as in any style of dump.

As will be understood, there may be slight changes made in the construction and arrangement of the details of my` invention without departing from the field and scope of the same and I intend to include all such variations as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which I have only disclosed the preferred forms of my invention.

lVhat I claim is:

l. In a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base, car stops rockably mounted on the base supporting said operating shaft; means for operating said car stops by the operating shaft and means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops.

2. In a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base; car stops rockably mounted on the base supporting said operating shaft; means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position and means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops.

In a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; and means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops.

a. In a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said oppositioned on a sliding base, means for automatically actuating said operating shaft; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring actuated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions and means for absorb-ing the shocks imposed on said car stops.

G. In a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base, cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops and means for guiding said sliding base.

7. In a caging` device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned on a sliding base, cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stop ping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said vcar stops into their rocked positions; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning same into its initial position.

S. In a caging device of the character described, a roc :ably mounted ope-rating shaft positioned on a sliding base: cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base support ing said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for Iguiding said sliding base and means for returning same into its initial position.

9. In a caging device of the character described, a rockablv mounted operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to t-he rail tracks on a sliding base; cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actua-ted means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and hold' ing said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning same into its initial position.

10. In a caging device of the character dcscribed, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks on a sliding base positioned be" low the rails; cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably kmounted adjacent to and outwardly of the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism yinto inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base into its initial position.

11. 1n a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks on a sliding base positioned below the rails; cage actuated means for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted on stationary shafts mounted outwardly of, adjacent and parallel to the rails and 0n the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base into its initial position.

12. In a caging device of the character described; a rockably mounted operating shaft the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; 4spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base into its initial position.

13. 1n a caging device of the character described, a rockably mounted operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks on a sliding base positioned below the rails; cage actuated means positioned in the rear of the car stops for operating said shaft; car stops rockably mounted on shafts positioned outwardly of, adjacent and parallel to the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; shaft operated means for rocking said car stops away from the rails; car actuated means, po-

sitioned ahead of the car stops, for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative position; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning `said base into its initial position.

14;. In a caging device of the character described, an operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks and rockably mounted on bearings supported by a common sliding base positioned below the rails; an arm secured on said operating shaft intermediate said bearings and means for operating said lever from the cage; an equalizer lever secured on the operating shaft intermediate of said bearings and connected to arms depending from the car stops rockably mounted on stationary shafts positioned outwardly of; adjacent and parallel to the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; spring operated means for accelerating and holding said car stops into their rocked positions; means for putting and holding the car stops operating mechanism into inoperative positions; means for absorbing the shocks imposed, on said` car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base into its initial position.

15. 1n a caging device of the character described; an operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks and rockably mounted on bearings supported by a common sliding base positioned below the rails; an arm secured on said operating shaft intermediate said bearings and means for operating said lever from the cage; an equalizer' lever secured on the operating shaft intermediate of said bearings and connected to arms depending from the car stops rockably mounted on stationary shafts positioned outwardly of, adjacent and parallel to the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; car actuated means for returning said car stops into stopping position; an arm secured at the rear end of said operating shaft and outwardly of the bearing, a tension spring having one end outwardly attached to said arm and the other end connected to a stationary support positioned so that the longitudinal axis of the spring will cross the center of the operating shaft when said arm is rocked the full extent of its rotatable movement; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base into its initial position.

16. In a caging device of the character described, an operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks and rockably mounted on bearings supported by a common sliding base positioned below the rails; an arm secured on said operating shaft intermediate said bearings and means for operating said lever from the cage; an equalizer lever secured on the operating shaft intermediate of said bearings and connected to arms depending from the car stops rockably mounted on stationary shafts positioned outwardly of; adjacent and parallel to the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; an arm secured at the forward end of said operating shaft and outwardly of the bearing and flexibly connected to the car operated trigger lever; an arm secured at the rear end of said operating shaft and outwardly of the bearing, a tension spring having one end outwardly attached to said arm and the other end connected to a stationary support positioned so that the longitudinal axis of the spring will cross the center of the operating shaft when said arm is rocked the full extent of its rotatable movement; means for absorbing the shocks imposed on said car stops; means for guiding said sliding base and means for returning said base .into its initial position.

17. In a caging device of the character described, an operating shaft positioned centrally of and parallel to the rail tracks and rockably mounted in bearings supported by a common sliding base positioned below the rails, supported and guided for movement longitudinally of the rails; an arm secured on said operating shaft intermediate said bearings and means for operating said lever from the cage; an equalizer lever secured on the operating shaft intermediate said bearings and connected to arms depending from the car stops rockably mounted on stationary shafts positioned outwardly of, adjacent and parallel to the rails and on the base supporting said operating shaft; means for arresting the counter clock-wise rotation of the operating shaft beyond the horizontal position of the equalizer lever; an arm secured at the forward end of operating shaft and outwardly of the bearing and flexibly and removably connected to the car operated trigger lever; an arm secured at the rear endof said operating shaft and outwardly of the bearing; a tension spring having one end outwardly attached to said arm and the other end connected to a stationary support positioned so that the longitudinal axis of the spring will cross the center of the operating shaft when said arm is rocked the full extent of its rotatable movement; bumper springs having one end supported on the sliding base and the other end carried by stationary supports and guide rods secured to the sliding base and positioned centrally of said springs, and slidably supported in the stationary supports.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES A. NOLAN. 

